Vanishing Point

Sep 1, 2004

A record-setting performance by Mexican stocks has triggered a wave of IPOs, but the market is still shrinking.

Banamex, delisted in
2001

Good news has been almost exactly balanced by bad for the Bolsa
Mexicana de Valores, Mexico's stock market, this year. Share
prices have performed well and the market has seen its first
Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) in many years, most
impressively a $155 million placement in June by homebuilder
Desarrolladora Homex. But tender offers from large European
companies led to the delisting of two large stocks, BBVA
Bancomer and Apasco, cutting heavily into trading volumes.

The benchmark Indice de Precios y Valores (IPC) gained 12.5%
in dollar terms in the through mid-August, while the Dow Jones
Industrial Average fell 5%. In April, it set a new high in
dollar terms for the first time in a...